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News, information and research from Boston UniversityWed, 21 Sep 2011 18:14:24 +0000en-UShourly1http://wordpress.org/?v=4.1.12Ban on “soft money” reaffirmedhttp://blogs.bu.edu/bunow/2010/06/29/ban-on-soft-money-reaffirmed/
http://blogs.bu.edu/bunow/2010/06/29/ban-on-soft-money-reaffirmed/#commentsTue, 29 Jun 2010 21:55:14 +0000http://blogs.bu.edu/bunow/?p=6216The Supreme Court has reaffirmed the ban on political parties being able to raise unlimited amounts of “soft money” contributions, despite the high court’s ruling in January which removed restrictions on corporate and union spending in federal elections. The Republic Party had appealed to the court to undo the ban. Political science Professor Graham Wilson, author of “Business and Politics,” says whether soft money was really used as originally intended for “party building” rather than helping candidates, it’s reasonable to presume that corruption could be linked to soft money contributions.

“But the GOP is right to say that if you allow unfettered spending by corporations and ban soft money contributions to political parties, you are going to disadvantage parties and have more of the action coming from special interests. Whether that is good for democracy can be questioned.”

]]>http://blogs.bu.edu/bunow/2010/06/29/ban-on-soft-money-reaffirmed/feed/0Alleged Russian espionage ring bustedhttp://blogs.bu.edu/bunow/2010/06/29/alleged-russian-espionage-ring-busted/
http://blogs.bu.edu/bunow/2010/06/29/alleged-russian-espionage-ring-busted/#commentsTue, 29 Jun 2010 20:40:27 +0000http://blogs.bu.edu/bunow/?p=6210The FBI arrested 11 people for allegedly spying for the Russians while living secret lives in American communities – from Washington, D.C., to Seattle – sent here years ago to infiltrate U.S. society and steal its secrets. It’s unclear what the alleged spies actually found. Two BU international relations professors, Arthur Hulnick and Joseph Wippl, are both long-time veterans of the CIA and quite familiar with the world of spies. They offer their thoughts on the big bust.

Hulnick: “The case demonstrates that the FBI is really good at uncovering such spy rings. I’m not sure what will happen to the Russians who have devoted so much time and effort to what appears to be a failed operation. I suspect the Russian government will deny that it is behind the operation.”

Wippl: “Unlike diplomats, none of the 11 has diplomatic immunity which would result in a PNG (Persona Non Grata) expulsion from the U.S. Without diplomatic immunity, they will be prosecuted in a U.S. court according to the charges brought against them.”

]]>http://blogs.bu.edu/bunow/2010/06/29/alleged-russian-espionage-ring-busted/feed/0G-20 nations pledge to deal with debthttp://blogs.bu.edu/bunow/2010/06/28/g-20-nations-pledge-to-deal-with-debt/
http://blogs.bu.edu/bunow/2010/06/28/g-20-nations-pledge-to-deal-with-debt/#commentsMon, 28 Jun 2010 22:43:09 +0000http://blogs.bu.edu/bunow/?p=6199The Group of 20 industrialized nations wrapped up their meeting in Torontopromising to have their government deficits by 2013 and “stabilize” debt loads by 2016, signaling to domestic political audiences and international markets that they’re serious about reducing stimulus spending. But economics Professor Laurence Kotlikoff, author of “Jimmy Stewart is Dead” about the future of the banking industry, says the G-20 missed the mark by not focusing on the critical future problems of paying pensions and health care benefits.

“Had the G-20 agreed to do long-term fiscal gap accounting and to develop policies that eliminated those fiscal gaps, it would have done something real. What’s it’s really done is agreed to delay making the critical policy changes needed to avoid insolvency.”

]]>http://blogs.bu.edu/bunow/2010/06/28/g-20-nations-pledge-to-deal-with-debt/feed/0Gun rights apply to local lawshttp://blogs.bu.edu/bunow/2010/06/28/gun-rights-apply-to-local-laws/
http://blogs.bu.edu/bunow/2010/06/28/gun-rights-apply-to-local-laws/#commentsMon, 28 Jun 2010 22:31:36 +0000http://blogs.bu.edu/bunow/?p=6194The Supreme Courtruled that the Second Amendment right to bear arms is a fundamental right that states cannot abridge. The 5-4 ruling will require a lower court to overturn laws in Chicago and its suburb of Oak Park., Ill., that limited handgun possession. Political science Professor Graham Wilson, author of “Only in America? American Politics in Comparative Perspective,” says the conservative majority of the court tilted away from a historic conservative position that states and cities should be able to adapt policies to local conditions and circumstances.

“Not since 1937 have we seen such conservative judicial activism and it makes complaints about liberal justices ‘making law from the bench’ ring more than a little hollow.”

]]>http://blogs.bu.edu/bunow/2010/06/28/gun-rights-apply-to-local-laws/feed/0Afghanistan’s mineral futurehttp://blogs.bu.edu/bunow/2010/06/24/afghanistans-mineral-future/
http://blogs.bu.edu/bunow/2010/06/24/afghanistans-mineral-future/#commentsThu, 24 Jun 2010 16:39:04 +0000http://blogs.bu.edu/bunow/?p=6131Word that war-torn Afghanistan has at least $1 trillion in untapped mineral deposits already has that country’s officials scrambling to start the process of opening up the nation’s reserves to international investors. Anthropology Professor Thomas Barfield, who also is president of the American Institute of Afghanistan Studies, says cashing in on the potential will take significant infrastructure building which will require security and likely involve investment from China. Barfield discusses the prospects and pit fields of Afghanistan’s mining future in a BU Todayinterview.

“The work needed to put in the infrastructure and the side effects — better transportation systems, electricity, jobs for people — that’s going to have an enormous impact well before we get to the question of payment of royalties.”

]]>http://blogs.bu.edu/bunow/2010/06/24/afghanistans-mineral-future/feed/0G-20 to deal with global recoveryhttp://blogs.bu.edu/bunow/2010/06/22/g-20-meeting-to-deal-with-global-recovery/
http://blogs.bu.edu/bunow/2010/06/22/g-20-meeting-to-deal-with-global-recovery/#commentsTue, 22 Jun 2010 20:02:32 +0000http://blogs.bu.edu/bunow/?p=6056Next week’s meeting of the Group of 20 industrial nations in Toronto will face competing efforts to deal with the fragile global economic recovery. International relations Professor Kevin Gallagher, currently a visiting professor at Tsinghua University in Beijing, writes in a Financial Timescommentary that developing a sovereign debt crisis management regime should be at the top of the G-20’s agenda.

“The overarching goal of such an effort should be to strike a single global standard for balanced and timely restructuring that satisfies the needs of creditors while enabling debtor nations the ability to recover and grow. This is where the G20 can make its mark.”